Synopsis

Business is now under increasing scrutiny by both the public and governments and is being called to account for activities that have social and environmental implications. Fundamentally however, the business objective of profitability and thus maximising returns to shareholders must still apply, hence the triple bottom line approach where business needs to be managed both for public benefit and private good. This course focuses on the external reporting aspects of corporate social and environmental sustainability. It begins by examining the ethical considerations and corporate social responsibility issues of environmentally sustainable and unsustainable business practices. This theme is embedded in an exploration of business activities including how investors and lenders evaluate the sustainability of business activities before committing funds; the issues surrounding the reporting of environmental impacts of a business's operations and its sustainability initiatives to external stakeholders on a voluntary and legislative basis; the processes and methods by which these external reports can be verified for accuracy and integrity; and the internal and external issues that are likely to challenge sustainable business strategy in the future.